Most editorials back Australia Opposition on election eve.

1 March 1996
Reuters News
(c) 1996 Reuters Limited

CANBERRA, March 1 (Reuter) - Most editorials in Australia's major newspapers have supported the Opposition coalition of the Liberal and National parties on the day before Saturday's election, although some of the endorsements have been reluctant.

The Sydney Morning Herald, Melbourne 's The Age, The Australian Financial Review and the Herald Sun gave guarded endorsements to the Opposition.

The Australian chose to endorse neither major party and Sydney 's The Daily Telegraph endorsed Labor.

Selections from the major newspapers editorials follows.

Melbourne 's The Age newspaper:

"John Howard's vision is not perfect. In many ways a vote for John Howard is a risk. There is a chance that under Howard Australia will go backwards. But we sense it is a risk people are prepared to take," The Age said in its editorial titled, "Howard flawed, but best chance of renewal."

"A re-elected Keating government would see a polarised community; it is another fact of long term administrations.

"A coalition government would at least begin its task with a degree of goodwill and something approaching consensus; in a very real way it would bring a sense of renewal.

"How long it endures will depend on John Howard. We think he is smart enough to make the mood work for him and for the nation. He deserves his chance."

The Sydney Morning Herald newspaper:

"The Keating government is neither tired nor incompetent. Why then is it, apparently, fighting for its survival?. The answer is that since its election in 1993, it is a government that has lost its way," the Herald in an editorial titled, "A government loses its way."

"It has drifted and so failed in several major areas of responsibility. These include industrial relations, microeconomic reform and communciations policy.

"What separates the contenders is their commitment to microeconomic reform. Mr Keating has lost that commitment and with it he has forfeited the right to be re-elected. Mr Howard deserves to be Prime Minister."

The Australian newspaper:

"The nation is disenchanted with both sides -- impatient for change, but uninspired by the alternative. There is a feeling the Labor government has served its time," the Australian said in an editorial titled "The mixed record of both leaders"

"But Mr Howard, despite being positioned as a winner, has not generated momentum for his own agenda.

"This newspaper which, for the past three years, has supported different elements in the policies of both sides, offers its endorsement to neither party.

"We believe the nation is entitled to a better performance from the government elected tomorrow than the campaign portends."

The Australian Financial Review:

"For a while the Coalition, now under the leadership of John Howard, offers a better hope for the future than Labor. This time around it is much more a case of the government losing its way than the Opposition providing a new alternative," the Financial Review newspaper said in an editorial titled "Coalition better, but only just."

"Of course, all this assumes that Mr Howard's bite when in office will be rather more aggressive than his bark during the campaign. This newspaper certainly hopes it is.

"At the very least, it believes there is more chance of a Coalition government delivering worthwhile gains in these two key areas -- fiscal responsibility and labour market reform -- than another Keating government.

" Australia owes Mr Keating a lot. Without him it is likely our economy and our society would be much less dynamic than they are now. But the time has come for a change. Voting for the coalition is, on balance, the better option."

Sydney 's The Daily Telegraph tabloid newspaper:

"Tomorrow, as we contemplate our responsibility, Australians have a clear choice, to allow the Keating Govenrment to complete the significant tasks it has undertaken or to make an uncertain investment in Mr Howard's Coalition at a unique moment in our history," The Daily Telegraph said in an editorial titled "Critical vote for the future"

"Stripped of the rhetoric and gamesmanship of politics, this campaign has exposed compelling reasons why the Prime Minister and the Labor Party deserve a reaffirmation of the nation's trust."

"The Daily Telegraph believes the choice is simple. The Prime Minister deserves our mandate to complete his work."

Melbourne 's The Herald Sun tabloid newspaper:

"Yesterday we argued that the Coalition team did not offer any more talent than Labor. So why gamble with a change of goverment when Labor has governed reasonably well?," the Herald saidin an editorial titled "Time for a change. Just."

"The answer lies in one fact: 13 years.